February 1, 2008

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Patent de/reform

February 1, 2008 in Ideas, News | 2 comments

First thing we do is kill all the inventors is a post on pending patent reform that Britt Blaser posted last year; but seems especially appropriate to re-visit as new law comes closer to being made.

Too often, as we focus on clashes between titans (witness the current writing about Microsoft maybe buying Yahoo so it can battle Google — while God knows what the other consequences will be), the little guys get lost in the shuffle or stomped underfoot. Or worse, one big guy with big connections in Washington gets to stomp on a little guy by having friends in Congress add little-guy-stomping language into a bill. That’s what’s at issue here, Britt’s saying.

The $44.6 billion question

February 1, 2008 in News | 6 comments

What happens if Microsoft buys Yahoo?

Advertising vs. Newspapers

February 1, 2008 in Journalism, News, problems | 1 comment

Robert Niles in OJR:

  News publishers like to point to television, free news online, English literacy rates and slew of other reasons to explain their readership losses. But the contempt that newspapers show for their readers by burying their editorial content beneath their remaining advertising surely is not helping keep readers around.

He goes on,

  Everyday I check the website of the Pasadena Star-News. And every day, the front section of the website’s homepage is obscured by a pop-up widget urging me to take a survey about the site’s new design. Click the red “X” in the corner to close the widget window, and the op-up appears every time you return to the page. (If you click the button decling to take the survey, the window disappears for the remainder of your session.)

  If I register with the LA Times website, the Times insists on spamming me with commercial e-mails for products about which I do not care. If I opt-out of the e-mails, the Times cancels my website registration. (Which is why I don’t have a Times website registration anymore…

  And let’s not forget the slew of pop-up, pop-under and screen take-over ads that accompany any visit to more newspaper websites than I am any longer able to count.

When we’re in Santa Barbara we get the LA Times, and I agree with Robert’s complaints. And I’ve been advising papers to get the clues for a long time too. This time, however, Robert offers a new clue that I really like:

  if news organizations are proud of their news content, why do so many insist on hiding it?

  Readers owe you nothing. They have no responsibility as citizens to read your reporting, and no responsibility as consumers to look at your ads. The have the right, and ability, to go about their lives without ever once glancing at your publication.

  If you want people to read your publication, you then need to do whatever is necessary to make them want to read it.

  That means leading with your best shot.

Lots more there. Read the whole thing.

Via the Head Lemur.

So, should we go?

February 1, 2008 in News, Places, problems | 12 comments

We planned to leave this afternoon to go skiing in Vermont tomorrow. Here’s the current Winter Storm Watch for Smugglers Notch:

  ..WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 AM EST SATURDAY…

  THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 AM EST SATURDAY FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT…AND NORTHERN NEW YORK.

  SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHERN NEW YORK BY MID MORNING AND ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT LATE THIS MORNING INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW WILL RAPIDLY CHANGE TO A MIX OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THIS AFTERNOON RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD ICY CONDITIONS AND TREACHEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PRECIPITATION WILL END AS SNOW SHOWERS VERY LATE TONIGHT.

  TOTAL SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS WILL GENERALLY RANGE FROM 2 TO 5 INCHES…AND SHOULD BE HIGHEST ALONG THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER. HOWEVER… ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL ALSO BE SIGNIFICANT ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT AS WELL AS NORTHERN NEW YORK. ICE ACCUMULATION OF A QUARTER TO HALF INCH IS EXPECTED BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

  THE WEIGHT OF THE ICE WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO BRING DOWN SOME WIRES AND TREE LIMBS…RESULTING IN ISOLATED TO SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES BEGINNING THIS EVENING. UNTREATED ROADS WILL BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS ACROSS THE NORTH COUNTRY FOR THE EVENING COMMUTE AND THROUGHOUT TONIGHT. SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL END AS SNOW SHOWERS LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.

  IF THE POWER FAILS AND YOU MUST USE AN ALTERNATE MEANS TO STAY WARM…USE APPROPRIATE FIRE SAFEGUARDS. BE SURE THERE IS ADEQUATE VENTILATION SINCE CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING IS A REAL DANGER.

  THIS IS AN EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS WINTER STORM! WITH VERY COLD GROUND TEMPERATURES…ICE ACCUMULATION ON ROADWAYS WILL BE RAPID AND SIGNIFICANT THIS AFTERNOON RESULTING IN LITTLE OR NO TIRE TRACTION ON ANY UNTREATED ROAD SURFACES. TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

We really wanna go. And I’ll bet the skiing tomorrow will be good. But… durn. Guess I’m leaning against it. :-(

The clarity challenge

February 1, 2008 in Blogroll, Ideas, problems | 1 comment

Some assignments for Social Graph Foo Camp is my latest at Linux Jounal. The camp starts today. Some bottom lines…

  Social systems are as old as humanity, and among the most complex and subtle topics of human existence. To call a Twitter following or a Friend list on Facebook a “social network” is a simplification and a distortion. Same goes for the social graph, so far.

  It’s early in the path of progress here. We have much to learn as well as much to do.

  …And by Monday I hope to see a new Social Graph entry on Wikipedia: one that any civilian, and not just geeks, will understand.